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Report: Tampa Bay Rays Interested in Octavio Dotel

This comes as a surprise to absolutely no one since Octavio Dotel is one of the more worthwhile right-handed relievers left on the market (as demonstrated here).

Dotel is a constant threat for right-handed domination. Over the last three seasons he’s allowed a batting average against over .200 only once, an on-base percentage against over .300 zero times (the high: .297), and a slugging percentage over .400 zero times (the high: .366). His strikeout-to-walk ratio is consistently over three as well. Simply put: Dotel is fierce against same-handed batters.

The problem with making Dotel the de facto closer is that he struggles against lefty batters. Over the last three seasons, lefties have posted the following lines against him:

2008: .240/.337/.427
2009: .268/.422/.577
2010: .301/.412/.581

For a reference point: Chad Orvella’s 2006 season is one of the worst in relief pitcher history and lefties hit .275/.442/.475 off him. I hesitate to make this comparison, but Dotel is a lot like Troy Percival in the sense that he exposes how constant roles can hurt a team more than they can help. One of the reasons the Rays kept Percival on the roster until May of 2009 is because of his ability to retire right-handed batters (and even during that disastrous 2009 season he held them to a .405 OPS). Yet since he pitched in the ninth inning no matter the opposing three, Percival’s inability to retire lefties (1.538 OPS versus them in 2009; oh and he had as many PA versus lefties as righties) haunted the Rays.

That’s not to say Dotel can’t be a useful member of the bullpen – he can be, as he has throughout his career – just that his skill set presents an exploitable flaw.